Small Sea Changes: Big Infrastructure Impacts Comes to Texas

On November 13, 2009, a workshop entitled ‘Small Sea Changes: BIG Infrastructure Impacts’ will explore improved management of Gulf assets through better understanding of coastal hazards. The workshop will focus on strategies for better understanding, predicting and accommodating the risks that such hazards pose.

A unique combination of coastal hazards - hurricanes, rising sea levels and a subsiding coast - pose substantial and growing risks to offshore, coastal and inland infrastructure in the Gulf region. These hazards have large safety and economic implications for vital infrastructure such as offshore oil and gas installations; refineries and processing plants; ports and terminals; water supply and waste water treatment facilities; rail roads and highways; airports; hospitals; power generation and power distribution.

This free event being held in Houston, Texas is open to representatives of public and private sector organizations with responsibility for offshore, coastal and land infrastructure.

Expert speakers at the event are drawn from public and private organizations including: ExxonMobil, Entergy Corporation, ICF International, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Gulf of Mexico Foundation, as well as leading authors of the recently published Gulf Coast Transportation Impact Study.

“Few in the Gulf region who have experienced recent hurricanes have any doubt about the impacts across the board, from offshore installations to roads and hospitals,” explains Virginia Burkett, Chief Scientist for Global Change Research at the United States Geological Survey. “Changes in resilience and in future environmental conditions are driving the need for a risk-based approach to engineering design. Demands for better observations, trend analyses and forecasts that support long-term asset management have increased dramatically over the past 5 years.”

The workshop will provide delegates with a review of coastal hazards and their impact on offshore and land infrastructure; an introduction to strategies for accommodating uncertain long-term environmental trends into engineering design and asset management; an understanding of the importance of long-term ocean observations in monitoring regional change and an exploration of how global and national ocean observations can drive improvements in severe weather prediction and the projection of future changes in sea level and climate. It will also provide an opportunity to network with scientists, engineers and asset managers across a range of disciplines and sectors.

“We hope that delegates will leave convinced of the benefits of a better understanding of coastal hazards” says Zdenka Willis, Director of the NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). “A sustained Integrated Ocean Observing capability enhancing, coordinating, and connecting information at global, regional, national, and local scales is a key to unlocking these benefits.”

Further information and online registration for ‘Small Sea Changes: BIG Infrastructure Impacts’ is available at www.oceanleadership.org/iwgoo/houston.

About Interagency Working Group for Ocean Observations

The Interagency Working Group on Ocean Observations (IWGOO) was established by the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (JSOST) in coherence with the Ocean Action Plan. Interagency collaboration is essential to achieve ocean science and technology priorities and, in particular, for planning and coordination of an ocean observation system. The purpose of the IWGOO is to advise and assist the JSOST on matters related to ocean observations.

About Consortium for Ocean Leadership

Ocean Leadership is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that represents 95 of the leading public and private ocean research education institutions, aquaria and industry with the mission to advance research, education and sound ocean policy. The organization also manages ocean research and education programs in areas of scientific ocean drilling, ocean observing, ocean exploration and ocean partnerships.